Author: jamesclay

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Nidderdale Lamb Rump

I was visiting York and on my way there I needed to charge my EV. I had looked at various options and saw there were some Tesla chargers at Weeton’s Food Hall near Harrogate on the way. Upon arrival I plugged in the charger and it started charging almost straight away. I had some time so popped into Weeton’s with the intention of getting a coffee, even a sandwich. However the menu looked really interesting, so decided I would have a proper lunch there.

I went with the Nidderdale Lamb Rump, which came with Jerusalem artichoke purée, sautéed Jersey royal potatoes, and a borlotti bean salsa. As it was been cooked to order it took a little time to arrive, which as I was charging (and Tesla charge idle fees)  I was a little concerned about, but I knew really I had plenty of time.

The plate of food looked really nice.

The lamb was cooked perfectly, it was still pink, but there was also a lovely external char. I enjoyed the Jerusalem artichoke purée, maybe a little more would ave been nice. I liked the potatoes, though if they were smaller, I might have enjoyed them more, even so I did like them.  The borlotti bean salsa was an interesting addition, and I liked the contrasting textures that added to the dish.

I finished and cleaned the plate. I was really impressed with the whole dish, yes there are minor changes I would have made, but in reality this was an excellent plate of delicious food, that I loved eating.

Would I go again, yes, but a five hundred mile round trip for lunch, is probably a little extreme. However the next time I need to visit North Yorkshire I will go out of my way to visit Weetons for lunch.

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Slow Yaki Soba Yasai

Needing a quick dinner, a visit to Wagamama was the solution. You don’t need to book and usually service is efficient and quick.

I had a look over the menu and decided what I would have and waited…

I then waited some more…

Then a little more time…

I was about to leave when a member of the waiting team arrived to take my order. They did apologise, but not sure what the issue was.

I went with the mushroom bao buns and the yaki soba yasai with mushroom. 

This was soba noodles cooked with mushrooms, egg, peppers, beansprouts and white and spring onion. topped with crispy fried onions, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.

The yaki soba yasai arrived first.

It was really good. I love the combination of flavours and textures.

 My mushroom bao buns arrived a little later. This was mixed mushrooms with crispy panko-coated aubergine and vegan mayo, topped with coriander.

These were nice but felt that they lacked enough mushroom. I have had these before and wrote back then:

I did feel the mushroom bao buns could have had a lot more mushroom in them, what mushroom was there was slightly overpowered by the crispy panko-coated aubergine.

Pretty much felt the same this time as well.

I did think both dishes needed more mushroom. If there is mushroom in the title of the dish then I think it needs mushroom in the dish.

Overall, I did enjoy the food, the service once it started was good, but I did feel the delay in taking my order did impact on my enjoyment of the dining experience.

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Time for paella

I have always enjoyed the paella from Riceminster, though I don’t have it very often.

On a recent visit to the Temple Quay Market I initially didn’t know what I wanted, but the paella on the Riceminster stall did look tempting. So I went with a portion of the Valencia paella.

This paella came with chicken and green beans. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it, I do think though next time I will go for the vegan or the vegetarian paella (which is a little cheaper) as I am not sure if the chicken added anything to the dish. It was nice, but I think I would have enjoyed the paella without it.

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Time for Tapas from Reinata

Dickens Yard reflection

Across Ealing there are various places to go out and eat. As well as chains, there are a range of independent places to eat. One of the nice things is that as a result there are lots of choices when you’re hungry. I often choose the independent places and one such place was in the (relatively) new Dickens Yard complex. I first went to Reinata back in June 2023 where I had a nice meal. However it wasn’t really a place to go out and eat on your own, as the tapas portions are quite substantial. Having said that and feeling quite hungry I headed over to Reinata for dinner. I went with two tapas dishes and some bread. These were large “small” plates of food.

I had the Octopus, Galician style, potatoes, paprika. 

I had this dish before, but this was different to the dish I had back then.  The last time I had this dish at Reinata it looked like this. This was a very different dish to one I had this time.

This time the dish was sliced potatoes cooked in the oven and on top was slices of grilled octopus. The octopus was tender and full of flavour.

The other dish I has was the  Andalusian Fritters, sherry marinated white fish and squid. 

This was breaded fish and squid. It was nice and fresh. I think it needed something more than lime though.

Both were large dishes and would be ideal to share, on my own it felt a little greedy. I do feel that the quality and presentation of the food was not as good as it was on my previous visit.

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Hot Dog and Loaded Fries

I was on the look out for some lunch from the Finzel Reach street food market. The Fontmell BBQ Smokehouse were there, in their converted horse box.

Their usual items are pulled meat buns and loaded fries. They also have jackfruit on the menu as well. This time they had an XL wild boar hot dog special. I went all out and not only ordered the hot dog, but also got a side of loaded fries with it. I went with the pulled beef loaded fries.

I took my ticket, but it wasn’t long before my food arrived. The service was efficient and friendly. This was one big dog and though it was a half portion of loaded fries, it was a large half. I also thought the food was well presented.

The hot dog was excellent, it was meaty and had a smoke flavour. It was a good sausage, but not sure if the wild boar came through as much as I thought it would. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it. I have to say though, I did use a knife and fork to eat it!

I am really on the fence when it comes to loaded fries. I do like eating fries, and usually have mayonnaise. However these were another level, the fries were literally loaded with cheese, pulled barbecue beef, jalapeños, sauces, and crispy onions. As I am on the fence, I am not sure if I enjoyed them or not. They were certainly tasty and I might order them again in the future. Overall a substantial tasty lunch.

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Lamb Chops from Tony’s Pita

Over the years I have been visiting Ealing, I have been meaning to visit Tony’s Pita. I quite like a kebab now and then. On a recent visit I took the time to eat there. I did think about the kebab, but in the end I went with the lamb chops. These were cooked on the chargrill to order. They were served with chipped potatoes, flat bread, and salad.

These were, I think, shoulder chops, so were not the best quality lamb chops you can get. However it was a tasty plate of food and I enjoyed it. I think I would go back and try one of the other dishes on the menu.

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Another one, but this time different

One of my favourite dishes from the Bristol street food scene is the bento box from She Sells Sushi. Virtually all the time when getting lunch from the stall I get the bento box with a portion of beef donburi and a hirata bao bun. 

After having a delicious bento box from She Sells Sushi with the beef and hirata bun, a week later I was back at the Finzel Reach street food market and decided I once more would have a bento box. However, this time I went with the chicken katsu curry and the beef donburi.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles. This was delicious as usual.

I have had the katsu curry before, this was crunchy chicken strips on a bed of rice with katsu curry sauce. It was a nice dish.

Overall I think I had too much rice, as the bento box was essentially two rice dishes. I did enjoy the curry and the donburi.

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Enjoyed that bento box again

One of my favourite dishes from the Bristol street food scene is the bento box from She Sells Sushi. Virtually all the time when getting lunch from the stall I get the bento box with a portion of beef donburi and a hirata bao bun. 

So, it was no surprise on a recent visit to the Temple Quay street food market I headed to the She Sells Sushi van and ordered my regular  bento box.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.

This was delicious as usual. I would have though liked some more of the crispy onions. I really like this dish. One day I might try and cook it myself.

The chicken hirata bun contained two pieces of tempura battered chicken. It was dressed with sauce and pickles.

This was really nice; I like the contrast of the crispy chicken against the soft fluffy bao bun. The sauce is nice and spicy.

I really enjoyed by bento box and it was delicious.

The photograph doesn’t do it justice, this was after I had carried the bento box back to the office. It usually looks like this.

It

 

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Pan Roasted Chicken

We went to the Landing Light for a celebratory meal. We have been there quite a few times in the past few months.

I did think about the mixed grill, but I have had that before and had a grill recently at The Railway Inn.

As the place was really busy, we had booked a table in the bar area. Still a nice table, but the main difference was that we needed to order out food either via a QR code or from the bar.

I went with one of the specials, pan roasted bacon wrapped chicken with sautéed potatoes, Tenderstem® broccoli. It was served with a mushroom, pepper and chorizo sauce.

It was certainly not how I imagined the dish would be presented. The sautéed potatoes were at the bottom of the dish, on top of these was the Tenderstem® broccoli, and the pan roasted chicken. The sauce covered the heart of the dish.

I would have liked my potatoes to be smaller in size and crispier. The chicken was tender, I suspect it was pre-cooked and then pan-roasted. I have made chicken like this myself, but not for a while. I liked the addition of the broccoli, sometimes dishes like this are missing vegetables. The sauce was tasty, it contained peppers and chunks of mushroom. Even though it was in the menu description, I was initially a little confused and then surprised by the chunks of chorizo in the sauce. For a moment I thought the chunks were sweet potato. However, once I ate a chunk, I remembered it was chorizo. I am not sure it needed the chorizo; I think pancetta would have been a better option. 

I did enjoy the dish. It was nice to have something different, and it was very tasty. My choice was influenced somewhat by my recent experience at The Railway Inn, where I said after having the mixed grill.

Upon reflection and seeing the plate of food that a neighbouring table received, I think I should have gone with one of the specials. The pork special looked really good.

So, when we went to The Landing Light, I made the conscious choice to choose something different, and probably from the specials menu. 

I had a voucher for 30% of mains, which made the meal very reasonable.

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Coffee and a Doughnut

I was giving my car a charge at the Instavolt chargers and popped into Tim Hortons for a coffee to kill some time as the car was charged.

In the end I went with an espresso and a Boston Creme doughnut.  The coffee at Tim Hortons isn’t half bad, and I much prefer it over the coffee from Starbucks. In the past I would usually have a flat white, but more recently I have been drinking black coffee. I drink black coffee at home, so it isn’t too surprising that when going out for coffee now, I am choosing black coffee. 

The doughnut choice was limited, but then it was evening, so not too much of a surprise there. I went with one of the “simpler” doughnuts, rather than one of the premium versions. I do like a Boston Creme doughnut, and this was a nice doughnut. It was soft and fresh, the chocolate topping was good, and the creme was tasty. It wasn’t too sweet either, which is quite surprising for doughnuts. The coffee was a good contrast to the doughnut.